Alaska Mileage Plan adding online booking for Cathay Pacific awards

For years Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles have been a great way to tap into good value First and Business Class redemptions with a variety of oneworld and partner airlines, with the programme boasting some great ‘sweet spots’ for Asia-based travellers.

Granted, this frequent flyer currency became a lot less attractive back in 2019, when the intra-Asia ‘stopover trick’ was shut down, but excellent rates still exist for long-haul flights with the likes of Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines.

Now that restriction-free travel is making a comeback even in North Asia, interest in Alaska Mileage Plan is definitely starting to return, and there’s some good news from next month.

Cathay awards go online in October

One of the biggest bugbears with the programme is that great value Cathay Pacific awards using Alaska miles are not searchable or bookable online, so you currently have to call Alaska to secure them, typically using Skype or a similar service.

That typically means using the British Airways Avios or American Airlines AAdvantage search engines to check award availability beforehand, then calling up to lock in the award (if the agent can also see it!).

From October 2022, this issue will finally be resolved, with Cathay Pacific awards using Alaska Mileage Plan miles becoming searchable and bookable wholly online, like they are for partners like JAL and Finnair.

For our American-based readers, it’s also good to know that LATAM awards will be bookable online using Alaska miles from l